Richard Joseph Paul Movies
- 2000
A remake of the 1973 TV movie of the same name, Satan's School for Girls is set within the grim walls of Fallbridge College for Girls. Hoping to learn the truth behind the "suicide" of her younger sister, Beth Hammersmith enrolls in Fallbridge under the assumed name of Karen Oxford. Our heroine soon learns that the school is in the clutches of a coven of witches called "The Five" -- and that she herself has the right satanic qualities to enable The Five to take over the world. Kate Jackson, who played the leading role of Roberta Lockhart in the original film, is here cast as college dean Olivia Burtis. The "new" Satan's School for Girls was telecast by ABC on March 13, 2000. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Shannen Doherty, Kate Jackson, (more)
- 2000
The trunk of an abandoned car yields the dead body of a schoolteacher. Detectives Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) and Green (Jesse L. Martin) suspect that the killing was the result of a gone-bad romance between the teacher and one of her students. But the D.A.'s office ultimately issues warrants for the dead woman's husband (Richard Joseph Paul) and father-in-law (Jon Cypher) -- psychiatrists both. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1997
It is not merely jealousy that prompts psychology major Darcy Canfield (Rena Sofer) to mistrust her widowed father Derek's new bride Joan (Linda Evans) and Joan's daughter Melinda (Bridgette Wilson). In fact, the audience is way ahead of Darcy: Joan is revealed early on to be a serial killer of wealthy husbands, who with the help of the equally sociopathic Melinda has bumped off a number of former mates for their money--and, of course, Dr. Derek Canfield (Alan Rachins) is loaded! This time, however, Joan falls in love with Derek and drops her plans to bump him off. Not so Melinda, who now takes it upon herself to eliminate not only her stepdad but also her own mother. In the end, it falls to Darcy to use her college-honed psych kills in a desperate effort to expose Melinda before she can kill again! Capped by one of those endings which suggests that "it ain't over till it's over", the made-for-cable The Stepsister was first broadcast May 7, 1997 by the USA network. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1997
Lynda La Plante (Prime Suspect) scripted this TV miniseries about the family life surrounding a Mafia don. Sicilian magnate Don Luciano (Dennis Farina) and his wife Graziella (Vanessa Redgrave) live comfortably at Villa Rosa in Palermo, Italy. Their son Michael (Michael Hayden) has an affair with Sophia (Nastassja Kinski), leaving her pregnant but unmarried. After Luciano refuses to traffic drugs, angry U.S. mob boss Carolla (Tony Lo Bianco) retaliates by having Michael killed. When Sophia secretly gives birth to Luka, her child by Michael, she then marries another Luciano brother and bears twins. Later, Carolla unwittingly adopts the teenage Luka (James Marsden), who is unaware of his own past. Carolla's vengeance continues through the years, and he passes the hatred on to Luka -- who sees that all males in the Luciano family are eliminated. Despite the slaughter, Luca charms the unsuspecting Luciano widows when he arrives at Villa Rosa, claiming to be the son of a wealthy, concerned American. How long before they learn the truth? Film director Peter Bogdanovich is seen in the role of Luciano's American contact, Giancamo. Bella Mafia first aired 11/16/97 and 11/18/97 on CBS. The feature-length video version was edited down to 117 min. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi
- Starring:
- Vanessa Redgrave, Dennis Farina, (more)
The beautiful vampire from space who starred in her own successful comic book series comes to the screen in this adaptation produced in part by Roger Corman and Forrest J. Ackerman. The planet Drakulon is populate by a race of vampires who are able to feed on the rivers of blood that flow naturally from Drakulon's oceans. But Vlad (Roger Daltrey) is an especially vicious blood-drinker who prefers to attack and kill others in order to satisfy his appetites. Vlad's appetite for violence leads him to kill the High Elder of Drakulon (Angus Scrimm), and Vlad, realizing he may have gone to far, flees to Earth to avoid capture by the authorities. The High Elder's daughter, sultry Vampirella (Talisa Soto), travels to Earth to capture Vlad and bring him back to Drakulon to face justice. On Earth, Vlad has become well-known rock singer Johnny Blood while slaking his thirst with a growing number of unfortunate victims in his spare time. Vampirella finds tracking him down harder than she expected and she soon enlists the help of modern-day vampire hunter Adam Van Helsing (Richard Joseph Paul). ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
On the wild desert planet of Oblivion, a man called Sweeny comes to search for a corporate saboteur. Though deceptively dressed as a greenhorn city dude, Sweeny is the most effective bounty hunter in the galaxy. He stays in the town where she (he knows nothing about her) is supposed to reside. He finds plenty of suspicious women and even gets romantically involved with the widow Mattie Chase, stealing her away from her steady beau Marshal Adams. Like its predecessor, this feature attempts to create a fresh new genre by combining science fiction and western with comic elements. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Meg Foster, Maxwell Caulfield, (more)
What do you get when you combine a Western with a Science Fiction film? You might get this shoot'em up in space. It is set in the distant town of Oblivion (it was actually filmed in Romania). Though it's a high tech town, it has the feel of an old fashioned Western outpost from the 1800's. The town is being terrorized by the snakelike, power-mad Redeye who is also out for the contents of local mines. He shoots the sheriff and disarms Stell Barr, his cyborg deputy. Enter Zack Stone, son of the late Sheriff Stone. Zack is of a rare breed, the empaths. Because he feels the pain of others, he walks a path of non-violence. Can he remain pacifistic in the face of Redeye's terrifying reign? ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Richard Joseph Paul, Jackie Swanson, (more)
- 1991
Karen Arthur, the Emmy-winning director of Cagney and Lacey, was in the driver's seat for the made-for-TV psychological terror film Bump in the Night. Meredith Baxter-Birney plays a onetime famous reporter who's drunk herself into near-oblivion. Her turbulent life takes a desperate turn when her 8-year-old son (Corey Carrier) is kidnapped by a dangerous pedophile (Christopher Reeves). The boy has escaped from his captor, and now his mother must find him before the kidnapper does. Richard Bradford plays the cop on the case, who'd rather do without the interference of Ms. Baxter-Birney. Bump in the Night is commendably subtle and straightforward in handling the potentially lurid details of its story. Historical note: In March of 1995, Bump in the Night became the first feature film ever telecast on the E! Entertainment Cable Network. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Bill Murray co-directed (along with Howard Franklin) this mixture of The Out-of-Towners and After Hours, concerning Grimm (Bill Murray), a frustrated city planner who is fed up with the corruption and venality of New York City. Getting together a couple of accomplices -- Phyllis (Geena Davis), who admires Grimm for his audacity, and Loomis (Randy Quaid), a follower to Grimm's leader since grade school -- Grimm decides to rob a bank, pocket the money, get out of town and take off to tropical splendor. Dressing in a clown suit, Grimm devises a unique way to rob a bank -- taking a group of hostages at the bank and inviting the police to surround the bank. Amazingly, although pursued by a police chief (Jason Robards), the trio manage to pull off the robbery. However, the problems really start when they try to get from the bank to the airport -- which proves to be more difficult than the robbery. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bill Murray, Geena Davis, (more)
- 1989
- R
When two rival groups of surfers face off on a Southern California beach prior to a big surfing contest, things get a little tense. However, when surfer Nick Rainwood (Richard Joseph Paul) meets up with a pretty girl, Allie (Danielle Von Zerneck), the two start off a romance, in spite of the fact that they belong to opposing sides of the surfing feud. ~ Iotis Erlewine, Rovi
- Starring:
- Keith Coogan, Danielle von Zerneck, (more)
- 1987
- PG13
In this follow-up to Revenge of the Nerds the nerdy frat boys from Lambda Lambda Lambda go to Ft. Lauderdale to a national frat conference where they again must outwit the thick-tongued jock frat-boys who are also at the conference. This they can do. ~ Rovi
- Starring:
- Robert Carradine, Curtis Armstrong, (more)
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